How to donate online to charities supporting Boston bombing victims and first responders

There are many options: The Red Cross, The One Fund, and even Bitcoins for Boston.

Our thoughts and concerns are with the greater Boston area on Friday, as the city remains on lockdown while law enforcement is conducting a manhunt for the second Boston Marathon suspect. (Ars founder Ken Fisher calls the city home, and Ars editor Jon Brodkin doesn’t live far away.)

Unfortunately, charity scams often proliferate in the wake of any disaster, and as such, the Federal Trade Commission advises people to donate their money only to known, reputable organizations.

Any Ars readers who want to contribute to Boston relief efforts online can do so in a number of ways:

Edit: DONATE BLOOD if you can. Not just for Boston or West, but plenty of other reasons. My cousin's dad is in the hospital for a heart condition and he's already had to receive 6 units of blood. Blood banks will always take what people can give.

iCare is a project that I've been working on for the last 6mo and it is designed to help with exactly this (and more)-- you want to help, you don't know where to go so you load up our App and it helps you find things like this.

We setup http://icare.mobi/boston so you can give to the Red Cross; We are trying to contact One Fund to support them as well.

We are an Austin based startup and we are very far in our tech development but our user outreach is still very green. So if you haven't heard of us yet, that's ok. Also, our goal as a company is to make it easier to help others. If you donate to One Fund or The American Red Cross through another outlet, that's fine with us. We just want people to give.

I don't normally get on forums / news comments to talk about our product because 1) we are still working on it and 2) I know how much most close communities hate and guard against shills. But this article is on target with what we do I felt like it made sense to share.

Edit: DONATE BLOOD if you can. Not just for Boston or West, but plenty of other reasons. My cousin's dad is in the hospital for a heart condition and he's already had to receive 6 units of blood. Blood banks will always take what people can give.

Odd that CNN and others are all about what colour the bomber's second cousin's hair was, and this is where the real important information can be found. Couldn't they just cool it with the updates and interviews, and just encourage their viewers to really help?

If they have, then good. But I haven't seen it. Just the FBI tips line.

iCare is a project that I've been working on for the last 6mo and it is designed to help with exactly this (and more)-- you want to help, you don't know where to go so you load up our App and it helps you find things like this.

We setup http://icare.mobi/boston so you can give to the Red Cross; We are trying to contact One Fund to support them as well.

We are an Austin based startup and we are very far in our tech development but our user outreach is still very green. So if you haven't heard of us yet, that's ok. Also, our goal as a company is to make it easier to help others. If you donate to One Fund or The American Red Cross through another outlet, that's fine with us. We just want people to give.

I don't normally get on forums / news comments to talk about our product because 1) we are still working on it and 2) I know how much most close communities hate and guard against shills. But this article is on target with what we do I felt like it made sense to share.

Also, I'm often given to understand that earmarking donations can frustrate aid organizations who wind up with a glut of money in one area and not enough in another. So while a disaster like that in Boston or West might motivate you to give, which is great, avoid directing the donation to be spent in one way or another, and leave its specific allocation to the beneficiary.

The wisdom is sound… if you trust an aid organization with your donation, you should trust them to spend it where they'll need it most.

Being in the Boston area, and having gone through the heartbreak of seeing people here devastated in so many ways, i can say -- the Texas expolsion is a terrible tragedy and I wish I could donate blood for that. Go Texas -- we're thinking of you.

Edit: DONATE BLOOD if you can. Not just for Boston or West, but plenty of other reasons. My cousin's dad is in the hospital for a heart condition and he's already had to receive 6 units of blood. Blood banks will always take what people can give.

This explosion killed 10 times as many people and no one is even talking about it! Where's the outrage? Where's the presidential speech? Why do we get called on to donate to a bunch of marathoners in boston, but 30+ people die in texas and no one bats an eye?

Fuck you ArsTechnica and fuck all you emotional idiots watching CNN 24 hours a day.

Odd that CNN and others are all about what colour the bomber's second cousin's hair was, and this is where the real important information can be found. Couldn't they just cool it with the updates and interviews, and just encourage their viewers to really help?

If they have, then good. But I haven't seen it. Just the FBI tips line.

People that are inclined to donate will do just that and those that are not inclined to donate will not donate no matter the amount of encouragement lobbed at them. In fact, the constant asking to donate you see these days, like being put on the spot in some supermarket checkouts, will probably discourage such people. I'm all for donating to good charities but the badgering to do so has gotten out of hand.

Boston can sleep easier tonight. The second suspect has been found and put in custody alive. According to the police there is no more imminent danger in the city and people can resume their lives.

Thank you to the people that cared for our safety and the well being of the victims.

There is always the danger that something like this can happen. That will always be the case. The media and the police shouldn't speak as if everything is OK now, beyond catching or killing the suspects.

My day job encompasses disaster relief and social work. I've been involved in Ike, Gustave, several regional winter storms, etc.

Please, do not send things like clothes at first. Money is far and away the best option; the cost of shipping goods, sorting goods, evaluating which ones are useable, etc is often more of a drain than a benefit.

I know at the explosion in West they're already overwhelmed by physical goods like clothes, books, and food. So if you're oging to donate, it is appreciated, but please do cash.

The crowd sourced amateur sleuthing was a debacle, irresponsible in fact. The internet needs to check itself and the tech realm has to stop thinking it has the answer to every goddamn thing.

Now people will hype one tragedy and forget the other big one (Texas) and the many everyday tragedies that occur readily in America and around the world and you have to wonder why?

This kind of hype is somewhat gross and is very much like the wall to wall shark attack coverage you find in MSM. This becomes water cooler stuff.

I am not saying don't donate. Nothing of the sort. I am asking why there isn't a post about the Texas tragedy and donating there? I generally dislike Texas and its politics but I do recognize there are human beings living there. Perhaps no heroes or knighthoods to be given out there? Not getting as much of the feel good emotional return on our investment?

Thank you for posting this article. Commenters, let's keep the politics out of this please,

I don't know what this means exactly. Ars does reporting and is also a news site. The generally poor state of journalism in America is riddled with issues. Aside from things like generally poor and lazy reporting (found everywhere), being soundbyte driven, and a lack of journalistic ethics (i.e. post/murdoch). One of the most basic problems with MSM media is how it picks and chooses what should be covered and what should be ignored. This is politics whether you think so or not. Shark attack coverage by MSM is the equivalent of trying to obtain as many page hits as possible, not delivering the highest standard of journalism or reporting. The internet moves in herds as well and at times in gigantic proportions. At the same time, as The Jam would tell you, the public gets what the public wants.

The right wing journos, the wishwashy center journos and the so called liberal journos, including the neoliberal 'paper of record', play politics on a daily basis. The sum of which collectively tell us what the limits of the conversation are.

In terms of donations, surely there are people in need every day and in every part of the world. I mean how many are living below the poverty line, children included, right in our own backyards that could use help in some form or other? Refugee crises the world over? Of course a slow death even of thousands makes for poor headlines and for poor water cooler talk. As others have posted (more helpfully than myself certainly) that Texas community could use some help right now.

As an aside, I worry about the behavior of the internet community at times. Just as it played the amateur sleuth poorly and to some extent detrimentally (the arrogant part of the herd did not stop to think), it may also begin to dole out rewards for people doing their jobs, or people they feel sorry for (bus driver) and most scarily start to commodify the act of doing good.

MIT is also setting up a memorial fund in honor of Officer Sean Collier. Below is an excerpt from a letter this morning to the MIT community.

DONATIONSWe are aware of two ways to make a donation in honor of Officer Collier:In tribute to Officer Collier's character and values, the Institute is creating the Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund. It will be used to establish a Collier Medal -- to be awarded to individuals who demonstrate the values of Officer Collier -- and other causes. You are welcome to contribute to the memorial fund.

People that are inclined to donate will do just that and those that are not inclined to donate will not donate no matter the amount of encouragement lobbed at them. In fact, the constant asking to donate you see these days, like being put on the spot in some supermarket checkouts, will probably discourage such people. I'm all for donating to good charities but the badgering to do so has gotten out of hand.

And why do "first responders" need donations?

People might not know there's anything to donate to. I didn't. I'm not saying they should shill for it 24/7, but it's worth getting some airtime, is all I was saying.

I don't feel like I'm being assaulted by donation requests... most stores I visit have a change jar at the counter, and the odd store asks if I'd like to add a dollar to the bill, but I certainly don't feel badgered. Where the heck are you shopping.